The Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) market, which has been set up in the Ashanti Regional capital of Kumasi has been met with mixed reactions.
Whilst a section of the public has embraced the exercise by the Ministry for Food and Agricultural, others belong to the contrary.
On a visit to the maiden PFJ market in the Ashanti Region, which is located at the Jubilee Part, formerly known as Jackson Park, The Chronicle observed heaps of bunches of plantains on sale.
Complementing the market was the addition of vegetables such as lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, and spring onions. Other food items that appeared on the ‘menu’ were rice, gari, beans and others.
Speaking to some of the customers who thronged to the PJF market, a woman, who gave her name as Philomena, expressed worry about the price and quality of the locally produced rice.
According to her, the rice contained a modicum of unwanted particles such as sand, a challenge, she argued, made eating of the rice uncomfortable.
She argues that a cup of the rice, which went for GH¢7.50, however was for GH¢6.00 or GH¢7.00.
Philomena told The Chronicle that some of the items at the PFJ market were being sold by ordinary people, whose motive defeated the purpose of the programme.
In the event of another woman who said her name was Diana, she expressed worry over the price at which plantains were being sold, bemoaning that the cost of GH¢15.00 for a bunch was exorbitant.
Another person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed worry over why the operators of the PFJ market hiked the prices during the day, only to reduce them when night was falling.
But, speaking to a PFJ official at the market on condition of anonymity, she noted that the market was aimed at helping Ghanaians to get food at cheaper costs for their homes.
She held the view that their products were cheaper than that of the regular markets, and that they intended to expose the sheer super abnormal profits a section of the market women were after.
Asked if the items brought to the area were specifically from the Ministry for Food and Agriculture (MoFA), she answered in the negative, adding that some people were asked to bring foodstuffs which were cheaper to complement the PFJ market initiative.
